mixing caramel never ends well
by gracecavendish
Summary: coffee shop au skye's first day at her new job ends better than she expected


so basically I turned the coffee shop au post I made on tumblr into an actual fic, enjoy :)

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><p>The first day on the job was never too much fun, and Skye was wringing her wrists at the thought. She'd been desperate, being a full-time computer hacker didn't exactly come with a steady pay, so it was goodbye the comfort of her live-in van and hello local coffee shop counter. She'd only been there once before, to hand in her resume and meet with the owner, a kind man who'd introduced himself as Phil Coulson and then some very scary lady named May who'd he claimed "ran things" for him. Skye released a heavy breath, trying to quell her nerves as she pushed open the heavy door of her new workplace.<p>

It was completely devoid of customers.

A dark haired man was standing behind the cash register, tall and broad-shouldered he seemed to be meticulously arranging the display by the machine. Skye cleared her throat to announce her presence and the man looked up from his work,

"Ah you must be the new girl," he said,

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"We never have customers at this hour. Even the early birds aren't this early," he explained as his attention drew back to his counter display. "I'm Ward, I work the cash register."

"Skye, and as you already know I'm the newbie. So where do I go?" She asked, Ward shook his head.

"Not sure, you better check with May, she organises everything in this place." Somehow the idea of asking anything of the stoic woman Skye had met with previously didn't sound all that appealing. However, as if on cue, May came through the staff door not moments after.

"Skye, good you're here. You'll be clearing tables and helping Ward with orders, Ward she's yours to train, got it?" Ward nodded, Skye felt the need to bow or salute.

"Got it," she affirmed, May gave what could've been a hint of a smile. Possibly.

"Good," May turned to face Ward once more, "Where's Simmons?" Ward gave a shrug in response.

"Late I guess," Ward began, "three guesses why," he added as an afterthought, a smirk encroaching on his face. May rolled her eyes and went out the way she came.

"Well she seems, uh, pleasant?" Skye said, making her way to stand next to Ward behind the counter.  
>"You'll get used to it," he told her and began to explain how to make payments on the machine.<p>

Fifteen minutes later, just as Ward had begun to explain the limit on card a wide-eyed young woman burst through the door, shrugging off her heavy coat.

"Sorry, I'm sorry!" She gushed, hanging up her things and running over to the counter, "I'm late, I know, it's _completely _my fault. I forgot to set an alarm and overslept." Ward rolled his eyes,

"Sleeping over somewhere?" He asked in an amused voice. The girl went slightly pink,

"If I was that's none of your business," she stated firmly before offering her hand to Skye.

"You must be the new girl, I'm Jemma, Simmons, I'm the barista." Skye shook her outstretched hand,

"Skye, nice to meet you." Jemma gave her a warm smile,

"It's nice that Ward has someone new to boss around."  
>"I'm standing right here," Ward deadpanned, Simmons gave him no notice.<p>

"You'll like working here Skye, everyone just fits so well." Skye gave her a smile in response as Ward pulled her over.

"Okay rookie, let's get back to your training."

**x**

A few hours later and what felt like three hundred customers Skye felt as though she was finally getting the hang of things. She brought over drinks, called out names (mispronouncing only a few) and wrote down the orders on the takeaway cups as Ward took the money. As they reached late morning a lull had settled over the shop and only a few customers remained at tables. Skye lent against the counter, ready to ask Ward when her break was when a panicked tone came from a few feet away.

"Um, so maybe mixing caramel syrup with the froth was not the best idea?" Ward rolled his eyes walking over to where Simmons stood, the espresso machine steaming and making a noise that didn't exactly sound as though things were working properly.

"Again Simmons? I swear that's the third time this week! What have I told you? Don't experiment with the ingredients while we're open!"

"What about when we're closed?" Jemma asked tentatively, Ward glared down as Simmons gave him a sheepish look,

"Just not at all! Now what are we going to do?" Jemma looked down at her feet before raising her head with a small smile,

"I guess we'll just have to call-"

"No, no way!" Ward interrupted, "Did you do this on purpose? Was this some kind of excuse?" He asked with narrowed eyes. Simmons all of a sudden became flabbergasted,

"What no! I would never!" She insisted, gesturing wildly with her hands. Ward gave her a look of disbelief,

"Okay so maybe I knew that there was a _small _possibility of something going wrong." Ward gave an exasperated sigh,

"Fine," he conceded, "call him." A grin spread across Simmons' features as she whipped out her phone from the pocket of her jeans.

"Call who?" Skye asked after Jemma had made her way outside, the phone pressed to her ear.

"You'll see."

**X**

"It's all right, everything's going to be fine!" A voice announced from the doorway exactly ten minutes later. Simmons ran out from behind the counter to throw her arms around the mysterious man who'd come to fix the broken machine.

"Fitz!" She exclaimed happily before giving him a light kiss. Skye raised her eyebrow in curiosity, to which Ward just shook his head. The curly haired man who still had Simmons' arms wrapped around him peered over her shoulder to look over at the still-whirring machine.

"What did you do this time Jem?" He asked as she let go of him to drag him over to the problem she'd created.

"Caramel syrup and milk froth, not one of my best creations, I tried to feed it through the froth extension." Fitz rolled his eyes and ran his hands through his unruly blond curls,

"One day you're going to do something so crazy I won't be able to fix it," he told her, crouching down to inspect the wiring underneath.

"Fitz is an engineer major," Jemma said proudly when she noticed Skye staring. Skye gave a curt nod,  
>"And do you just greet all engineers like that or…" Jemma blushed and let out a small giggle,<p>

"Oh, no, he's my boyfriend. He just knows what he's doing."

"How long have you been dating?" Skye asked,

"Um for about, a year and-

"Three months," came the muffled voice of Fitz from below the counter, finishing Simmons' sentence. She nodded happily.

"Yeah and he's literally here, _all the freaking time_," Ward said, emphasising each word.

"It's not my fault Jemma gets carried away when experimenting with the available resources," Fitz countered, clearly used to Ward's frustration. A few moments later the whirring stopped and Fitz arose from his place on the floor.

"There you go, should be all sorted now," he said, tapping his hand on the metal. Simmons beamed and placed a kiss on his cheek,

"Thank you darling, would you like to order something? Maybe you could finish telling me about your new delivery mechanism-"

"I would like to take this time to remind you Simmons that your break is not for another half hour," May quipped as she strode into the room. Simmons eyes became wide as she began to stutter,

"Yes sorry May, I know, I just, uh I was, sorry, yes um-" May held up her hand to silence her,

"Just make sure you mark it down in the record book."

"I will thank you!" She gushed, grabbing Fitz's hand and making her way over to an empty table. Ward rolled his eyes again, Skye figured that must be a habit of his.

"Look's like you'll be covering for her rookie."

"Does this happen a lot?" Skye asked, grabbing a cloth to wipe down the mess of caramel Simmons' had left.

"We might as well be paying the boy," May muttered, giving Ward and Skye a brief glance before returning to her place behind the staff door.

"Don't worry rookie, you'll get used to things around here," Ward said, scrunching up a napkin and hitting Skye straight in the face. She picked up an empty takeaway cup and threw it at his head.

"Looks like I'm sticking around supervisor, so you better get used to me." Ward gave her a smile,

"Can hardly wait."

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><p>thanks for reading! review :)<p> 


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